


the right cure

by xiaojidiing



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Doctor! Zhangjing, Fluff, M/M, Police Officer! Yanjun, Slice of Life, Translation, t rating bc yanjun says fuck once, 长得俊
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 17:03:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15369216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xiaojidiing/pseuds/xiaojidiing
Summary: Translation of a work entitled 《对症下药》 by 东_小北 on LOFTER; please enjoy!





	the right cure

**Author's Note:**

> quick explanation of the original title: 对症下药 (duì zhèng xià yào) is an idiom that, literally, means to prescribe the right remedy for an illness; more figuratively, it means to find an effective solution to a problem or to take appropriate steps to solve it. 
> 
> i was sifting through the zhangdejun fics on lofter looking for something to read and i came across this when i sorted by the month's top posts! the author called it a little dumb, but i think there's a certain grace in the implications of their feelings toward each other. i've tried to stay as true to the original work as possible and left my elaboration in the footnotes (there are a lot, you don't have to read all of them if you don't want to except for the general footnotes and the last footnote when you get there, but there are very convenient links that i spent so much time putting in that will link you back and forth if you do want to read them :D); let me know if anything's mistranslated or unclear to you! 
> 
> disclaimer: i don't know anything about html, sorry if anything looks weird w/ all the footnotes and such
> 
> now without further ado, on to the story!

1.

“Where are you feeling sick today?”

“My heart.”

The hand that You Zhangjing was using to write the patient’s medical record stilled. He raised his head to look at the person in front of him.

Bleached white hair, wearing a pair of sunglasses, dressed in a T-shirt with, unexpectedly, a fur coat draped around his shoulders.

If Zhangjing remembered correctly, it was over 30 degrees Celsius today. These days, it really wasn’t easy to be part of the criminal underworld.

“Mr. Lin, this is the ear-nose-throat department.”

The other was silent for a few moments, then said, “You have to ask why my heart is feeling sick.”

Zhangjing set down the pen in his hand. “For the psychiatry department, please go back to the first floor to re-register.”

 

The nurse currently on duty stood in the doorway, popping her head into the room. After her eyes swept around once, she asked Zhangjing, “Did that handsome Mr. Lin leave already?”

Zhangjing couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Lovestruck fool.”

“I don’t agree with that, Dr. You. I’ve already very painstakingly restrained myself, so at most it’s just appreciation,” the nurse corrected him in dead earnest.

Her words caused him to smile. “If you like him, you should pursue him boldly. I’ll support you.”

“Dr. You, don’t make fun of me like this. I still know myself; you can admire that kind of handsome guy from afar but you can’t play around with him. I’m just watching; I won’t make a move.” She thought for a bit, then added, “And I won’t be tempted, either.”

She was still young, still talking about the same things.

Zhangjing waved her off. “Hurry and go call the next patient.”

What she said wasn’t wrong, though. This person really was too outstanding, to the extent that in any case Zhangjing couldn’t believe that somebody like this would suddenly appear in front of him, introduce himself as Lin Yanjun, and ask to date him with the intention of eventually marrying him.

And Zhangjing was one hundred percent sure he had never seen this person before.

Maybe he had made a bet with a friend the day before, to try and court the tenth person who happened to pass by him, and Zhangjing just happened to be that tenth person.

But Zhangjing was already past the age where he might have believed in silly idol drama plot devices like true love at first sight, let alone live a drama with someone who really did seem like a hot-blooded high school male protagonist.

 

Everyday, Zhangjing hoped that this underworld gangster wouldn’t come to harass him, and yet everyday he still managed to show up like clockwork, discovering Zhangjing’s outpatient hours. In one entire month, he had never missed a single day.

Every time Yanjun left, Zhangjing would always ask him not to come again. But it seemed to go in one ear and out the other, and the next day he would still appear on time.

Except that the last time Zhangjing had to tell him this was already a week ago.

Yanjun hadn’t come to the hospital for a week.

After the fifth time Zhangjing had tried to use cold water to make his coffee, the fourth time he had misremembered his own outpatient hours, and the third time he had gone to the wrong floor, he had finally realized it.

In the past month, this patient had used every method, every excuse, every disease possible to come and harass him. One time he had even gone so far as to say his period hadn’t come[1]; Zhangjing had nearly kicked him out of the hospital.

Maybe the novelty of it all had finally worn off, or maybe he had a new, different objective. In short, his patient had been cured and didn’t need a doctor anymore.

And yet he didn’t feel the relief he was expecting. In fact, he was even a little agitated.

 

Zhangjing dumped the cold coffee out, making a new cup of coffee with hot water this time. He sat down on his chair, getting ready to take advantage of his current lack of patients to write up a work report.

But after he had picked his pen up, he hadn’t written a single word, sitting there in a daze for what seemed like hours, not knowing what to think.

The sound of knocking on the door suddenly brought him out of his haze and back to consciousness. At the moment, he only had a few minutes left before he was supposed to get off work; this patient would be the last one for today.

“Please come in.”

The patient who pushed the door open and entered the room had a very familiar figure.

He leaned against the door, saying to Zhangjing, “Dr. You, my heart hurts again.”

 

 

 

2.

Yanjun sat across from Zhangjing, just like he had so many times before, leaning slack against the back of the chair. Twinkling eyes concealed by sunglasses, and yet Zhangjing could still feel his intense, discerning gaze[2].

But Zhangjing remained unmoved, tone stronger than ever. “Take off your sunglasses.”

Yanjun was stunned for a moment, quickly recovering his original expression. “Is it because you miss my handsome face, Dr. You?”

Zhangjing ignored his words. Glaring fiercely, he reached out a hand to take off Yanjun’s glasses himself but was caught by the wrist.

“Dr. You, you should get off work now. I’ll send you home.”

 

For the first time, Zhangjing agreed. At the moment, he was riding shotgun, glancing at the person next to him out of the corner of his eye.

“Dr. You, I think that if you want to look at someone, you should look straight at them openly. Sneaking a look is not okay.”

Zhangjing turned his entire body sideways, staring at Yanjun, then opened his mouth to ask, “What happened to your eye?”

The person in question quirked up the corners of his mouth in a faint smile. “Dr. You, you look at me this carefully?”

He had specially swapped out his normal sunglasses, wearing a round, retro-style pair, lenses half as small. Mentally, Zhangjing rolled his eyes. He wore these lest other people be unable to see the bruise at the corner of his eye.

“Did you fight with other gangs? Go to collect protection fees? Or were you sent out by the boss to check up on a faction?”

Yanjun stiffened[3]. “... Dr. You, you should stop watching so many Hong Kong dramas.”

 

It was only fifteen minutes by car from the hospital to Zhangjing’s house, but with Yanjun’s distracted, meandering driving it took them an hour. Yanjun claimed it was because he wasn’t familiar with the route.

Zhangjing didn’t feel like calling him out on it this time. He said, “Since you’re here, why don’t you come upstairs. I’ll give you a little medicine.”

 

Zhangjing’s house wasn’t big, but it was decorated cozily, and quite tidy too. He told Yanjun to sit on the sofa, poured him a glass of water, and went to get his medicine box.

Yanjun took off his sunglasses to watch Zhangjing, getting poked by him.

“I’m giving you medicine for your eye, what are you doing facing me directly like that, just give me your side profile.”

“If I had known earlier I would have injured the right side of my face; the right side is better-looking.”

Zhangjing’s hand was gentle when he saw Yanjun in pain, only later returning to his normal strength. “You’re ruining a good face.”

“My mom said that before, too,” said Yanjun. “One time when I was younger I was skateboarding and fell, and my eye swelled up. When my mom saw, she said to me, ‘When I gave birth to such a handsome kid as you, it wasn’t for you to ruin like this.’”

Zhangjing couldn’t hold back his laughter. He changed out the cotton swab, continuing to put medication on Yanjun’s eye. “And you still became part of a crime syndicate, fighting and killing everyday. It’s really hard to avoid injuries like that.”

Yanjun raised his hand to grasp the hand that Zhangjing was using to put the medication on, looking back at him. “Dr. You, who on earth told you I was part of a crime syndicate?”

 

Until Yanjun took his police ID out of his bag and set it down on the table, Zhangjing couldn’t believe this person who went around harassing good citizens everyday was actually a public servant.

Yanjun told Zhangjing that his one-week disappearance was because he had run into a difficult case; once he had wrapped it up he had gone to the hospital immediately to see Zhangjing. Zhangjing’s feelings were suddenly mixed, seeing Yanjun’s gaze grow even gentler. He pointed at the injury on the corner of Yanjun’s eye, asking softly, “Is this from when you were fighting criminals, then?”

Yanjun fell silent, avoiding Zhangjing’s eyes. He replied, “Actually… I bumped into the corner of a table…”

Zhangjing was at a loss for words[4].

 

 

 

3.

After coming back from his one-week disappearance, Yanjun returned to how he was before, never missing a chance to come in for a diagnosis. But, at last, they didn’t have to chat awkwardly like they did before. Every time, Zhangjing would help Yanjun reapply the medication on his eye; the injury had mostly healed up by now.

Their relationship started to undergo subtle changes. Ever since Zhangjing learned that Yanjun had such a respectable career, his impression of him gradually became better. Before he thought his sunglasses were a fake kind of cool, now he thought they were stylish; before, he thought wearing a fur coat on such a hot day was crazy, now he thought it was a wild and unruly fashion choice.

Oh no, he was starting to think like a fan[5].

The last sentence he said to Yanjun at the end of every day changed from “Don’t come next time” to “I’ll see you again[6].”

See what again, who would want to see him again.

Zhangjing furrowed his eyebrows. He had finally realized that things had already progressed in an uncontrollable direction.

 

But Yanjun didn’t even give Zhangjing a chance to be conflicted before he suddenly disappeared again.

Zhangjing glanced at the calendar; soon, it would again be a week since his patient had last come.

Actually, he did have Yanjun’s phone number. One time Yanjun had snatched his cell phone and forcefully dialed his own number, exchanging contact information with him just like this. Eleven digits. Zhangjing had tossed them around in his mind over and over again, but never actually dialed them.

He knitted his eyebrows, trying to squash his impatience.

The sound of knocking came through the door. The nurse pushed the door open and came in, blinking her eyes at Zhangjing. “Dr. You, I think I just saw Mr. Lin in the orthopedic ward.”

 

Zhangjing sprinted the whole way, even skipping the elevator to save time. In one breath, he had run from the third floor on building A to the fifth floor on building B.

According to the nurse, she had been dragged by one of her friends to the orthopedic ward, who said she had seen a guy more handsome than celebrities. The nurse had spent a while covertly scrutinizing him from the doorway before realizing who it was -- isn’t this the one always running toward the ear-nose-throat department, the handsome Mr. Lin that even an idiot could notice pursuing Dr. You?

 

Zhangjing stopped in front of room 509, leaning against the wall to stabilize his breathing. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, making sure his appearance looked suitably professional, before finally pushing the door open.

But he hadn’t thought there would be a scene like this waiting for him.

Yanjun laid on the bed, right arm wrapped in a plaster cast. There was a girl sitting next to the bed, pinching his cheeks, pretending to look fierce but failing to hide the smile in her eyes. Yanjun just gazed at her gently, cheeks slightly dimpled.

Zhangjing was frozen by this kind of warm, sweet display, standing there in the doorway not knowing whether to go in or leave.

The girl realized he was there and greeted him, saying affably, “You two chat, I’ll go buy some porridge.”

Yanjun seemed to be in a good mood, even asking for seafood porridge. The girl glared at him, saying _don’t be silly_ [7], _you can only handle light food right now._

 

Only after the girl left did Zhangjing snap back to reality, sitting next to the bed under Yanjun’s faint smile and watchful gaze, all the while maintaining an expressionless face.

“This time I really did fight with a criminal.”

Yanjun kept staring at him, making Zhangjing grow restless; he took an apple from the fruit basket on the table to peel it, trying to distract himself.

“My hand is injured.”

“I can see that.”

“It’ll be difficult for me to go to work after this.”

“Ah[8].”

“My house is really out of the way; it takes me an hour to drive to work every day. Now, with my hand like this, I can’t drive.”

Yanjun’s eyes bored into Zhangjing, who lowered his head to concentrate on peeling the apple, still expressionless.

“So I need to find a temporary place to live for a month that’s closer, and I know, Dr. You, that your house is pretty close to the police station, so…”

“You can’t, don’t ask, no[9],” Zhangjing didn’t wait for Yanjun to finish talking before cutting him off, expression growing even darker.

Yanjun was still placid, continuing to speak. “I just wanted to ask you to help me by keeping your eyes open for any apartments nearby that I could rent, can I not ask this?”

Zhangjing set the peeled apple down on the table, replying, “I’ll keep an eye out.” Soon after, he got up and walked towards the door. “I’m going back to work.”

Yanjun picked up the apple, watching Zhangjing walk out the door. Only after Zhangjing’s figure finally disappeared did he smile and take a bite out of the apple.

 

Even after Zhangjing returned to his office, he still felt a twinge of pain in his chest.

As expected, his first impression wasn’t wrong. Public servant his foot, he was just a scumbag who went around playing with girls. He had changed his opinion of Yanjun for nothing, he really was blind!

His phone suddenly vibrated. Zhangjing unlocked it; it was a text.

_“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry, I was going to come find you after I got the cast off. The girl you saw was my younger sister. The apple was really sweet, because you cut it.”_

Zhangjing held his phone with one hand, resting his chin on the other. If he could have seen himself right now, he would have noticed how gently the corners of his lips turned up.

Just before he was going to reply, he received a new message.

_“Also, you’re really cute when you’re jealous.”_

Zhangjing’s face darkened immediately; he quickly typed out a response.

 

 

 

4.

While Yanjun was staying in the hospital, Zhangjing would occasionally come to visit him; not very often, but at least once a day.

Gradually, Zhangjing got to know Yanjun’s sister, who was still in school. She had an open and cheerful personality, and in a few short days, she had already managed to tell him all of Yanjun’s scandals and mishaps from when he was little to now.

Yanjun seethed, but he couldn’t do anything to retaliate against his precious younger sister.

Zhangjing happily listened to these stories, clicking his tongue at Yanjun, _I didn’t know you were such a pipe dreamer_ [10], _you even wanted to become the main vocal of Asia’s top boy group?_

The patient in question covered his face, unwilling to face him.

 

Yanjun recovered quickly, well enough to leave the hospital in just a week. The day Yanjun was discharged, Zhangjing had a surgery, so he couldn’t send him off.

Zhangjing finally finished the surgery at seven in the evening. Rubbing his sore shoulders, he returned to his office. He was about to send Yanjun a text to ask how he was, not expecting that once he pushed the door open, he would be welcomed with a beautiful, fiery red[11] bouquet of roses.

Yanjun held the roses in the hand that wasn’t in a cast, holding them out to Zhangjing when he saw him come in.

“... What are you doing?” asked Zhangjing.

“To celebrate my release from the hospital, I’m giving you ninety-nine roses.”

Zhangjing really couldn’t see the logic of any of what Yanjun had just said. He frowned and took the roses, reluctance written all over his face.

“Do you not like them?”

“It’s not that… It’s just that it feels weird, a man receiving roses.”

“... Fuck, Lou Zibo screwed me over,” Yanjun turned his head sideways to whisper.

“Be honest, why did you give me these roses?”

Yanjun diverted his line of sight, looking at a diagram of acupuncture points on the wall, saying, “My sister said I wasn’t trying hard enough to pursue you, so I asked some friends for suggestions… I should have known not to believe high schoolers.” He clenched his jaw in regret.

Zhangjing let out a snicker, patting Yanjun’s shoulder. “The harder you work the luckier you are, don’t give up.”

 

One day, half a month after Yanjun had been released from the hospital, Zhangjing gripped the table with both hands, starting to seriously think about whether or not he should have thoughtlessly encouraged him at the time.

His office, at this very moment, had a vase full of roses sitting on the cabinet, six boxes of chocolate on his desk, three big boxes of gourmet snack gift packs on the floor, oh and yes, he had a good few boxes of Tainan specialty products at his house too.

Lou Zibo, Huang Minghao, Chen Linong.

Zhangjing mentally noted these people who had given Yanjun ideas.

He had almost forgotten the bottles of healthcare products in his drawer, too. Yanjun had given them to him yesterday, excitedly saying that this time, he had found a wise and mature friend to ask; Zhangjing would like it for sure.

Did he think that by giving a doctor healthcare products, he would hit on what Zhangjing liked?

 

Zhangjing found it funny, but he had that subtle feeling again.

He put a piece of chocolate in his mouth, remembering what Yanjun had said when he had given them to him--

_“My life is like a box of chocolate, do you want to give it a taste?”_

This person had the kind of face that scared off people, but he was always doing childish things, clumsily stumbling all over the place, still thinking he was cool when he did stupid things. Before, Zhangjing thought this person was only chasing after new and fun things, but now, he kind of wanted to have faith in him.

Zhangjing took another piece of chocolate, not knowing what flavor this one would be.

 

 

 

5.

Yanjun was the last patient to show up at the end of Zhangjing’s outpatient hours again. Today, Zhangjing was on the night shift; he would get off at almost midnight.

“Dr. You, you’re off from work tomorrow, right?”

Zhangjing raised an eyebrow. “Since you understand so clearly, Mr. Lin, there’s no need to ask questions you already know the answer to.”

“Then, Dr. You, will you accept my invitation, accompany me somewhere?” That person was still expressionless, asking casually. If it weren’t for the repeated fiddling with the ring on his index finger that betrayed his nervousness, Zhangjing really would have believed his response was as indifferent as his outward appearance.

So Zhangjing agreed with a smile, the first time he had accepted one of Yanjun’s invitations.

 

Yanjun drove to the outskirts of town, heading upwards along the winding mountain road. If Zhangjing remembered correctly, this place was ranked number one on a list of S City’s[12] best places to have a date in some magazine.

At 3:30 a.m., they finally reached the summit. Yanjun took out a jacket from the car and draped it over Zhangjing.

It was just like Zhangjing had predicted. Yanjun had brought him up the mountain to watch the sunrise.

They picked a good spot, sitting side by side.

“Whose idea was it this time?” Zhangjing asked.

“Zhu Zhengting.”

“Not bad, very classy.”

Zhangjing watched the far-off horizon, still gray, but soon to be swathed in warm orange, becoming the beginning of the connection between heaven and earth.

“It’s almost four,” Yanjun said. “A famous person once said, if you see S City at four in the morning, you will receive happiness.”

“Can I ask who this famous person is?”

“Me.”

Zhangjing rolled his eyes, yet couldn’t hold back a smile. He hesitated, the smile slipping off his face; as if he had come to some decision, he said, “Yanjun, today when I was eating chocolate, I made a bet with myself. If the next piece of chocolate I took was liqueur-flavored, I would tell you a secret.”

“Then did you… take the liqueur-flavored one?” Yanjun looked at Zhangjing; from his eyes he could see himself, a self that was hopeful and yet scared of getting hurt.

“I did.” Zhangjing flicked his eyes away. “Because I saw the picture on the box, I knew which one was liqueur-flavored.”

“Then are you going to tell me your secret?”

“Yes.” Zhangjing pretended he was waving a wand in his hand. “My secret is that I have a superpower.”

“What superpower?”

Zhangjing gazed at Yanjun, emphasizing each word as he spoke. “My superpower is super-liking you.”

Yanjun curled down the corners of his mouth, but couldn’t hide his deep dimples. “Then I’ll tell you a secret, too.”

“Okay.”

“Dr. You, you have to ask why my heart hurts.”

Zhangjing did as he said, smiling as he asked, “Mr. Lin, why does your heart hurt?”

“Because…” Yanjun took Zhangjing’s hand in his own, holding it to his chest.

Zhangjing felt the warmth of his palm, and the quickening of his heartbeat.

 

“Because, you’ve been jumping about in here[13].”

 

As the sun quietly rose above the horizon, a pair of lovers sat under its blessing, holding each other in their arms.

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

general footnote: all variations of criminal underworld, crime syndicate, gangs, etc. are from the same phrase, 黑社会. i just changed it as needed to fit the sentence.

general footnote no. 2: any time you see pursue, the original term is either 追 or 追求, both of which in this context mean to chase someone in a romantic sense or court/woo them

1original text: 经期不调, direct translation: menstrual period hasn't adjusted properly (probably like it's either coming too late or too early? or something otherwise is off about it)[return to text]

2original text: 一道如炬的目光, direct translation: a gaze like a torch (referring to its heat/intensity)[return to text]

3original text: 林彦俊身形一顿, really had no idea what it was supposed to mean so i just went with my best guess lmao[return to text]

4original text: 尤长靖：？？？ i think this one is pretty self-explanatory.[return to text]

5original text: 完了，都有粉丝滤镜了, direct translation: i'm done for, i have a fan filter (as in he's seeing him through the eyes of a fan)[return to text]

6literally just 再见, bye, but see you again is the literal translation and made more sense in the upcoming sentence.[return to text]

7original text: 别做梦了, direct translation: don't dream, basically she's telling him not to be stupid/ask for things he can't/shouldn't have, another translation could be like "in your dreams"[return to text]

8original text 哦 as in oh, but i felt like ah made more sense here as in "ah." (showing indifference) rather than "oh." (like "oh i didn't know that")[return to text]

9the famous “不可以不用问不可以”[return to text]

10pipe dreamer is a pretty accurate translation considering the context, but the original term used was 中二, most likely referring to 中二病, or chunnibyou/junior high second year disease. here's a link that explains it: <https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Chuunibyou> [return to text]

11original text: 骄艳似火, i'm 99% sure the 骄艳 is a typo because the correct term should be 娇艳, which means beautiful, delicate, charming, etc. 似火 means like fire, most likely referring to either the color of the petals or how the sheer amount of roses made it seem like a fire[return to text]

12it literally said S城 sorry if it turns out to be some reference to an actual city[return to text]

13original text: 上蹿下跳, disclaimer i have no idea what it was supposed to mean in this context but this is an idiom that can either mean to jump about or to "run around on sinister errands"... i think it's a pun? like yanjun's saying that zhangjing went around and did shady stuff to make him fall in love w/ him (referencing that whole part where yzj thought lyj was part of the underworld lmao) but also making his heart hurt by like. jumping in it (making his heartbeat go up?? idk) anyways if you really can't get it just know that yanjun's heart hurts because of zhangjing and now they're happily in love yay[return to text]

**Author's Note:**

> [permission](https://imgur.com/iVjoLht) | [source](http://dongxiaobei.lofter.com/post/1cbe353e_ee99ba26) | original author: 东_小北
> 
> please don't distribute/post this anywhere else! if you have any comments for the original author let me know and i'll send them through!
> 
> be my friend on **[twitter](https://twitter.com/xiaojidiing)**


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